ASU welcomes anyone with a sincere interest in practicing Aikido, as taught by O Sensei’s direct disciple, Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, and by his senior students. We also welcome membership by already established Aikido Dojos.

For individuals currently training at an ASU Dojo: You are automatically a member of ASU as soon as your instructor sends in your dues. This will happen by the time you do your first test at your ASU Dojo.

For individuals not currently training at an ASU Dojo: If you are an individual yudansha wishing to join ASU, the best route is to have an established relationship with an ASU senior instructor as your sponsor. It is recommended that the sponsor be godan or above, though relationships with lower-ranked ASU instructors will be considered.

For satellites of an ASU Dojo: Any satellite Dojo of an ASU Dojo may, after being a satellite for a period of two years, apply to become a regular member Dojo of ASU with status independent of their previous parent Dojo.

For already established Dojo wishing to join ASU: Any Dojo wishing to join ASU is welcome to make application to the ASU Board via a sponsor, who will generally be an ASU yudansha in good standing, ranked godan or higher. We expect that you will have already established a relationship with your sponsor, in the year prior to your application, by either attending seminars/classes taught by the sponsor, or by inviting the sponsor to teach seminars and/or classes hosted by your Dojo, or both. In addition, one or more senior members of your Dojo will need to have attended at least one of the approved ASU intensive training Camps (link) within the past year.

Probationary period for Dojo: If accepted, your Dojo will be a provisional member Dojo of ASU for a period of one year from the date of acceptance. This is to give time for both your Dojo and ASU to see if we make a good fit together. After that one-year period, the Board will review the status of the application and, if approved, your Dojo will become a regular Dojo member of ASU.

Dojos Outside of the U.S.A.

If you represent an established Dojo outside of the United States, and wish to join ASU, please contact the ASU Foreign Dojo Liason, Sensei Chetan Prakash (cprakash@nullasu.org). As stated above, your Dojo will require a sponsor, and one or more senior members of your Dojo will need to have attended at least one of the approved ASU intensive training Camps (link) within the past year.

Will I be accepted at my current rank upon joining ASU?

Generally, those with a kyu rank from any Aikido organization will be accepted at that rank by ASU. The time period for you to test for next rank will be at least the minimum time as per our testing requirements, starting at your joining date. Your actual time could be longer, as you will be adjusting to a set of requirements that is likely different from the kyu-test requirements of your previous organization.

For those with dan ranking in Aikido, please note that Aikikai Hombu Dojo administers our dan ranking and requires that only those holding an Aikikai Hombu dan rank will be accepted at that rank. If you have a non-Hombu rank, you will be required to start by applying for shodan through ASU and working your way up. ASU will do everything possible to speed this process up to your current rank, but the minimum time guidelines between ranks determined by Hombu will need to be observed.